Nothing to see here but straight up EYE CANDY! We snagged these original images from Dirt Rag Magazine, so props to them for providing the visual stimulation! Enough talking… let’s look at some sexy bikes… shall we?

For more images follow links below.

Day 1: http://www.dirtragmag.com/blogarific/nahbs-2010-friday-226/

Day 2: http://www.dirtragmag.com/blogarific/nahbs-day-2-saturday-227/

Day 3: http://www.dirtragmag.com/blogarific/nahbs-2010-sunday-228/

Like these images check out our friends at… Dirt Rag Magazine!

The World’s Lightest Electric Bike!

In 2009 British electric bike manufacturer Cytronex launched the world’s lightest electric bicycle, the Cytronex Powered Cannondale Capo, which at 13.6Kg weighs less than many unassisted bicycles. Towards the end of 2009 Cytronex were approached by Channel 5’s Gadget Show to build a bicycle for a race between one of their presenters (Ortis Deley) and a professional cyclist (winner of the Tour of Ireland – Russell Downing).

Cytronex was chosen by Gadget Show because it is fitted to existing bicycles with very little visual impact and without affecting the quality of ride – the water bottle battery provides effective disguise, the motor is about the same size as a hub dynamo and the system runs silently.

The Super Six is Super Hot!

After consulting with Cannondale, Cytronex decided to electrify a Cannondale Super Six for the race. The resulting electric bike weighs in at just 12.9Kg – lighter even than the Capo. For Cytronex the object of the exercise was not to demonstrate that the system can transform us into professional cyclists, but to show that anyone can now enjoy cycling, and more to the point, that anyone can use a bicycle for effective transport. You can watch the race by clicking on this link: The Gadget Show hill climb challenge

Cytronex designer, Mark Searles comments “Time spent crawling to work in a car is dead time, part of your life being wasted that can add up to many weeks every year. It makes perfect sense for busy people to get the exercise they need on the way to work. It’s a whole lot more fun than the gym and Cytronex is designed to allow the rider to use as much, or as little effort as they wish. What’s more, many of our customers find that they can get to work faster than they ever did in the car!”

Mark has first hand knowledge of this because the company has been so busy in the last year that he has almost no time for sport. He is still using the company’s second ever prototype to cycle to work, although he does also have the new Cytronex Powered Cannondale Super Six model for days with fine weather.

Cytronex fit their system to a wide range of bicycles, from hybrid bikes and city single speed bikes like the Capo (available in flat bar or drop handlebar versions) right up to top of the range road racing bikes like the Super Six.

Cytronex Web site:
http://www.cytronex.com

To buy a Cytronex Powered bicycle:
http://www.no-hills.com

Whenever I hear about someone creating, building and in this case innovating all while keeping the planet in mind (sustainability) it brings a smile to my face and my fingers just start typing! With that said I am happy to say I got the chance to meet one of the cycling industries up and coming “good guys” Nick Frey owner of Boo Bicycles.

I know what you’re thinking… this is Women’s Cycling Magazine, what are you doing writing about a guy named Nick? Well it’s simple, it’s a fascinating story and the more people that hear about it the better. So let me get started on telling you how this guy Nick is making the world a better place for both men and women.

Boo Bicycles was (officially) founded in June of 2009 but the wheels have been turning (unofficially) for the past two years. Nick recently made the prestigious walk across the Princeton thoroughfare to graduate from the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering program. As you might have already guessed Nick’s “Boo” got it’s start there as a junior year project for engineering design.

Nick says he and his classmates were having a hard time figuring out what they would design, at first. As a matter of fact… at one point the team had decided on creating a high-tech-fancy-pants “Kegerator”! It didn’t take long for Nick and company to put aside their dreams of becoming Princeton fraternity legends and Oktoberfest royalty. After the “Kegerator” hoopla died down they decided to apply what they’d learned in the world renowned Princeton Aerospace Engineering program to a more practical use.

Speaking of practical applications who better to find inspiration from than Bamboo Zen Master Craig Calfee of Calfee Design?

After seeing some of the Calfee bikes the Princeton team and Nick decided they wanted to engineer a bamboo bicycle that was 100% geared to race! The team put there noses to the grindstone and went half blind perfecting every millimeter in AutoCAD.

After several months of preparation and a class presentation they decided to test out the prototype at the Rutgers Season Opener (March 2008). The bike raced wonderfully but what was more amazing was the response from the crowd. Everyone wanted to see the bike, take pictures with the bike and talk about the bike… that’s when Nick knew he had something special and decided to look into forming a company to produce the bikes for others.

Soon after the Rutgers Season Opener the momentum began to speed up daily. With news coverage coming in from the likes of VeloNews it didn’t take long for world renowned industrial designer and eco-friendly advocate James Wolf (James Wolf Designs) to get involved. When James first saw the bike this is what he told Nick. “I love what you’ve done, I can do it better, let me make them and you engineer/test/sell them!” The rest is history!

After about a year of prototyping, testing, and building, Nick and James came up with an incredible new sleek production model for road, cross and a touring bike.

A little bit about production

James currently lives in Vietnam and has been working with bamboo and other materials for over 15 years. James doesn’t just supervise the production of the Boo Bicycles he’s right in the trenches with four of his hand picked and personally trained bamboo craftsmen.

All Boo Bicycles are made with Dendrocalamus Strictus, one of the hardest and stiffest bamboos in the world. Every frame is entirely handmade (even the joints are wrapped by hand with single-strand, high modulus unidirectional carbon fiber) and they take FIFTY hours to complete!

Sustainable goodness

Boo Bicycles produces a green product, grown sustainably from local bamboo that is hand-cut and treated simply with a sun-drying process over the course of a few months. Bamboo growth is one of the most efficient methods of sequestering carbon dioxide, and the frames would simply decompose into the ground if thrown away but don’t do that!

Nick has decided not market the bikes as a “green” product because he feels there is a lot of green-washing going on and it’s becoming a little cliche. Boo Bicycles are a race-worthy, high-performance machines that are hand crafted from sustainable natural bamboo as well as synthetic composites. Let us not forget simply riding a bike is green and healthy!

Nick says… “If I can get people to ride more often because they feel like a rock star when showing off Boo, then I’m all for it!”

Web Boo: www.boobicyles.com
Twitter Boo: nfreyBoo
Facebook Boo: Fan Page
Email Boo: nickfrey [at] boobicycles [dot] com

This past week at the Interbike convention in Las Vegas I had the chance to briefly talk with Michael Ehrenreich, MD, Chief Executive Officer of SOMA Cycle, Inc, a.k.a. Zigo! I’m excited to say Zigo has a phenomenal product line backed up by an innovative and dynamic team of engineers and designers.

If you haven’t already heard of Zigo it’s okay I hadn’t until recently as well but don’t let that fool you, Zigo is definitely making a name for itself and most certainly poised to be a household name soon enough.

Let’s talk about the product. I’m sure you’ve seen several different push and pull strollers out and about in your local community but I can guarantee you you’ve never seen anything like Zigo Leader X2 Carrier Bicycle (available now) or the Zigo Leader X1 Carrier Bicycle, coming Spring 2010.

The Zigo systems are far superior to other manufactures products, I’ll highlight some of many new and innovative features that give the Zigo award winning cycling/stroller systems the chance to win your confidence and loyalty.

• Zigo Leader Carrier Bicycle System can operate as a 3-wheel carrier bicycle, stroller, jogger, bicycle, or conventional bicycle trailer, converting among these modes in under 30 seconds using patent-pending LeaderLink technology.
• The forward positioned ChildPod allows for constant visual contact with your children. None of the anxiety of a tow behind trailer.
• Children are a lot more stimulated riding up front than being towed behind staring at the bike or Mom’s behind.
• No need to give up active lifestyle once children come. Use the Zigo Leader and integrate your kids into your outdoor lifestyle.
• One product for biking, walking, and jogging.
• Reduces carbon emissions dramatically. Most carbon emissions are from short trips by suburban parents. But once you have kids, biking becomes more difficult. The Zigo Leader replaces short car trips for school, play dates and shopping.
• New for this season, 7 gear Shimano hubs.
• Meets all relevant ASTM standards and CPSC requirements.

For more on the Zigo brand and family of products please visit www.myzigo.com and tell’em Women’s Cycling Magazine sent ya!

The Next “Little” Thing

The Contortionist is a folding bike created by 24-year-old Royal College of Art student Dominic Hargreaves. It’s got quite a beautiful design, but what makes it extra special is that the whole thing folds into a package that fits inside the 26-inch wheels.

It’s the best of both worlds: It folds down to a small enough package that you can easily carry or store it, but it doesn’t have the ride quality problems that make tiny-wheeled folding bikes unattractive to many. You really need to see the video of the Contortionist in action (below) to see how brilliant it is!

Production Model Could be Coming Soon

The Contortionist has been shortlisted for this year’s James Dyson Award (and we wouldn’t be surprised if it won). That could mean £10,000 for Dominic Hargreaves, but that’s nothing compared to the commercial interest in the bike. The Guardian reports that three companies have already shown interest in making a production model, which would make the Contortionist “one of those extremely rare items that move directly from design student project into the shops.”

How much would a production model cost? Dominic doesn’t think it would be more than £400. “There’s no reason why not. There’s nothing on the bike that couldn’t be mass produced in a bike factory.”

Enough words. Just watch the video:

Via: Treehugger.com

Have you ever wanted to build your own bicycle? Well thanks to the folks at Republic Bikes you can now build your own custom bike (with flare) online for about $400. Some of the bikes posted in the user gallery had me wondering who the hippies in the group were. Republic offers a variety of different colors for all the components and bike parts allowing you to go Jerry Garcia on that a*$!

For more on these fantastic bikes hit up the website and tell’em Woman’s Cycling Magazine sent ya!